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Sunday 4.15.12

WHY SHOULD WE PARTICIPATE?

We are less than two months away from The Prove Your Fitness Competition. At The Compound, there is a poster hanging with a "Competitor" sign up sheet and a "Volunteer" sign up sheet. This is so that we and everyone at The Compound has an idea who is doing what for the event. But while we will need many Volunteers to make this event run smoothly and I welcome anyone who wants to volunteer, I would like you all to think about participating first!

Many of you are unsure if you are going to compete in the Prove Your Fitness Competition. I've heard reasons such as, "I'm not going to win anyway" or "I don't want to embarrass myself". Concerns like these are certainly valid. But as scary as it might be to compete in this and other competitions, consider this:

Here is the basic and most common description of a Marathon Race (through a Google Search):
"Marathon is usually an open event, wherein anyone of any age group can take part. It involves lot of energy, zeal and enthusiasm. It is the only event of its kind wherein the spirit of both the athletes and common man is seen. Most of the marathons have special arrangements for handicap and senior citizen participants. The best part about running a marathon is that it does not force the runners to run past till the end. At anytime during the run, participants can quit the race. Though quitting is easy, participants should try by all their means to finish the race, if not win the same."

How many people do you know who sign up and run a marathon (or half-marathon) are actually trying to Win it? It seems to me, the majority simply come in with a goal to complete the run, regardless of their time (though many do make time goals for themselves). The completion of the marathon is the goal. In the paragraph above, the description of the marathon does not include the word "win" until the very last portion of the very last sentence.

We have indoor soccer next door to The Compound and many of our members play in the leagues. How many people put together an Indoor Soccer team expecting to win? Seems to me most people just want to get some competitive fun with their friends. And if they win the 5-Team over 30's Division, they really don't "Win" anything, do they? This is the same for amateur martial arts competitions, weightlifting competitions, Tough Mudder and other mud runs, etc. The goal is to complete a challenge. They tell their friends about it, and most of their friends will be in awe and say that they could never do it, whatever the goal is. Why can't an overall test of fitness competition, like this one, be the same?

The point is, fitness competitions happen everywhere, in every sport, at all different levels. Most people don't win. But it doesn't mean that you shouldn't compete. Competition fuels something in many of us and makes us want to do it again. That competition can be against someone or simply against ourselves. Competition can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses and you can learn to improve both.

Lastly, this event is for EVERYBODY, no matter where they workout, CrossFit Gyms, Bootcamps, Golds, etc. We are not going to try to wow everyone with intricate workout designs and chippers from hell. That's what training is for and we don't believe that makes a good competition. The movements will be simple to complete, the amount of difficulty will be up to how heavy or fast you go.

So let's get some people signed up for this event....and not let another gym come in to our competition Proving their Fitness with more numbers than us! We promise we will all have fun!